I understand resting guys but resting two on the same night and we are playing a goalie who has not been strong the last few games. To me it feels like we might have a let down tonight after the big win last night.

I liked that Chimera-Morrison-Semin line from last night. Morrison has been playing his heart out the past few weeks. Anyone think that this will be Varly's last start before the playoffs? I think it should be...

ice, I'm not usually this optimistic, but for some reason I think Varly will be strong tonight. And I'm glad Laing is playing again tonight. He won't get many (if any) more chances this season. GO CAPS!!

Shots are 13-13, and the Caps are cycling well. Varly is not up to snuff, sorry. He has had many games to prove that he can get his game back. He is getting worse, not better. I think the Caps may need to think hard about resigning Theo. I know the Caps need to resign Backis, Fehr, and Flash.

Stop making the excuse of Varly was screened. That 2nd goal was totally routine. Varly is really off his game -- butterfly too early, weak glove hand (drops it too), backing into the goal, and terrible rebound control. Varly before the injury was very good, but now his bad habits of over-relying on his athleticism is back. He is NOT technically sounds any longer.

I have no problem with your general statement about Varlamov's game but to say that those were routine saves and that the time of possession was equal in the first period, particularly at the time of your post, is beyond fathomable to me.

Carolina was dominating us for the first 10 minutes and I bet the scoring chances were about 6-1 at the time of your post.

After the commercial break when it was 2-0, the Belanger line established a good cycle and it looked like Boudreau had chewed into the team.

On the 1st goal, Steckel was 20-feet from the shooter and provided one of 2 or 3 screens on Varlamov.

The 2nd goal was a deflection and Fehr completely failed to backcheck after the puck bounced over his stick.

From the first shift of the game, Ovechkin was turning the puck over or letting Cane players skate right around him.

Varlamov might have been able to position himself better on the 1st goal but that's about it. He made a number of big saves that kept it to only a 2-goal deficit.

95% of the poor performance in the 1st period is on the shoulders of players not named Varlamov.

We were getting outskated, outworked and outexecuted at the time of your post.

I know it is perverse but I want Ovie to be at the top of the goal scorers' list(i.e. beat Cindy) more than I want us to win. Is this sick? When he is on fire, though, he pulls the team with him. I don't know, maybe he has not completely recovered yet.

If we follow our typical pattern we should come out in the third period roaring and not allowing Carolina to catch their breath. We'll see.

True, Hart for OV to be icing on the Stanley Cup cake. What I love is that OV as Captain is team leader, not just the best player on the team. His game is so more well rounded since taking the C. If Crybaby gets the Richard and Hart while OV is holding the Cup over his head laughing like Messier, bring it on.

I think any excuse to not make Ovechkin the only player besides Gretzky and Orr to win a third consecutive Hart Trophy will suffice for the voters. I think for Ovechkin to win a third he will have to not only get the most goals and the most points, but will have to be the best in both by a decisive margin (even though, on a per game basis and per minute basis, he's having his best season ever). Politics. Whatever.

I would like to see a Presidents' Trophy AND a Stanley Cup more than I'd like to see Ovechkin win any individual award. But I would definitely love to see Ovechkin getting a third straight MVP.

Carlson was, heading into today's games, second in the league in + per game (amongst those with a minimum of +5 and 15 games played) only to Ovechkin, and is +1 today. Another + for Carlson without one for Ovechkin and he'll pull into the league lead.

It is starting to be like a broken record in front of Varly...They only give half an effort lately when he plays. He is starting to play well and they just haven't been scoring enough while he is in the pipes. Oh well, win the next one.

I'm glad that Carolina is far enough behind the Bruins and Rangers where they probably will not get 8th seed. Otherwise, I'd fear for the Caps ability to make it past Round 1. They can't take season series from Carolina to save their lives.

It is starting to be like a broken record in front of Varly...They only give half an effort lately when he plays. He is starting to play well and they just haven't been scoring enough while he is in the pipes. Oh well, win the next one.

Posted by: Caps4Life1 | March 25, 2010 9:49 PM

Gotta give credit to Legace though. He was pretty good tonight. You're not always going to score 4 goals every night. Varly was good enough to win but it's just unfortunate. There were some pretty pathetic attempts in the shootout...

Caps could clinch the East before they even play their next game. If Buffalo and New Jersey each lose in their next game, the Caps clinch. And it doesn't matter if it's regulation or OT - they each need every possible point to catch the Caps.

Ovechkin was credited with 0 hits but I seem to remember at least one.

Ovechkin had an awful first period but picked up his play in the second half of the game.

The Hurricanes were fantastic with their sticks in front of their net. If they weren't so active with their sticks and skating so well, we probably score 4 or 5 goals in regulation.

Corvo made a huge deflection on Cole early in the 3rd period on a shot that trickled through Varlamov. I have no idea how the shooter got so open in front of the net. We didn't have the same sense of urgency in front of our goalie as Carolina had in front of Legace.

Varly was very good and, again, much improved. He had a 93+% save ratio. You could see his struggle with his confidence in the beginning. BB was so wise not to pull him. Once his confidence was built with each successive save, he got better and better and reminded me of his old self. If he is played, he will be back to his A game in no time.

I am more worried about Ovie. He doesn't seem in top form lately or he has just had rotten luck.

Should we have hung onto Brian Pothier? Or did he just really need a new start somewhere else? After his concussion issues, the Caps didn't really want to play him for large numbers of minutes. While with Carolina, he's now getting them.

Normally, the voters would not have had trouble giving Ovi his 3rd straight MVP but given the fact he's been suspended twice would make many writers think twice about voting for him unless he were leading in goals and/or points.

There is the chance he could win since the non-Ovi voters would be splitting votes among Ryan Miller, Bryz, Sedin, and Crosby. (If they agreed on an alternative to Ovi, then that alternative person would win.)

How does MVP voting work anyway? Do writers vote for 10 players, ranked in order from 1 to 10, and certain number of points being assigned, with the point totals being totaled up.

"Carolina better not make the playoffs. DO NOT want to see them. We'd be going to OT every single game."
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The Capitals can actually control Carolina's destiny for the playoffs because the Caps play Boston and Atlanta each two more times down the stretch. Since points are at such premium for these "desperate" teams, it is realistic for the Caps to purposely lose at least one of each game to Boston or Atlanta in order to prevent Carolina from reaching the Playoffs. The Capitals just do not play well against Carolina, especially now with Pothier in their line up, and it just sets up way too well for an upset if Carolina were to meet the Capitals in the first round. I am just saying this to "Piss Off" the Carolina fans..hehe!

I think everything would have to go right for Carolina for them to make 8th seed. Given that they're 7 points behind Boston and have to leap frog over 3 teams in their division, along with the Rangers.

I don't think that losing Pothier was a big loss as far as what he brought to the team on the ice but I'm just not sure that Corvo, alone, represents much of an upgrade over him, not even factoring in Osala and the 2nd round pick.

We can probably reacquire a 2nd round pick before the next draft and Osala may have had trouble cracking our lineup but, again, I'm not sure that that particular deal was worth it, especially when you factor in that Pothier was already familiar with our systems and that Corvo has stated more than once than he won't be 100% until next season.

Maybe McPhee sees Corvo as a long-term piece but, even in that case, he could've went after him in the offseason since Corvo will be a UFA.

Pretend you are a free agent (whose a very good player and scores 35 goals per year). What team would you go to? Unless you go back to your current team, the choices, due to Cap space, are limited to the following:

@CapsFan75: It depends on a lot of factors. Colorado has traditionally been considered an attractive place to play and it seems like a team that is starting to head in the right direction. St. Louis is a great sports town, although baseball is king. And they also seem like a young team on the move. Phoenix is neat place to live but not yet a good hockey town. To me, the others are non-starters.

Apparently I have confused you, allow me to decipher.
Varlamov was deeked from his jock by a poor 4th line player and the shooters, except for Backstrom, were stopped by Manny Legace, whom was waived from St Louis because he couldn’t stop a beach ball. I realize I may have hurt your delicate Capitals fan emotions prompting you to attack my supposed lack of mastery regarding the english language. However, I was simply calling like I saw the game. They sucked big time tonight.